Reviewing Third Coast Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBX) and United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB)

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) and Third Coast Bancshares (NASDAQ:TCBX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares United Community Banks and Third Coast Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Community Banks	20.67%	9.42%	1.17%
Third Coast Bancshares	16.30%	12.05%	1.17%

Dividends

United Community Banks pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Third Coast Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $16.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 44.3%. United Community Banks pays out 39.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Third Coast Bancshares pays out 473.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Volatility & Risk

United Community Banks has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Third Coast Bancshares has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.3% of United Community Banks shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.9% of Third Coast Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of United Community Banks shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.3% of Third Coast Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares United Community Banks and Third Coast Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Community Banks	$1.01 billion	3.67	$252.40 million	$2.52	12.13
Third Coast Bancshares	$197.80 million	2.68	$47.67 million	$3.56	10.71

United Community Banks has higher revenue and earnings than Third Coast Bancshares. Third Coast Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Community Banks, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for United Community Banks and Third Coast Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Community Banks	0	4	3	0	2.43
Third Coast Bancshares	0	2	2	1	2.80

United Community Banks currently has a consensus target price of $35.33, indicating a potential upside of 15.62%. Third Coast Bancshares has a consensus target price of $42.67, indicating a potential upside of 11.96%. Given United Community Banks’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe United Community Banks is more favorable than Third Coast Bancshares.

Summary

United Community Banks beats Third Coast Bancshares on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also offers lending services, including real estate, consumer, and commercial loans, to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized commercial businesses, and non-profit organizations, as well as secured and unsecured, and mortgage loans. In addition, the company originate loans partially guaranteed by the SBA and USDA loan programs. Further, it provides wealth management services comprising financial planning, customized portfolio management, and investment advice; trust services to manage fiduciary assets; non-deposit investment products; and insurance products, including life insurance, long-term care insurance, and tax-deferred annuities, as well as invests in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, the U.S. treasury, the U.S. agency, and municipal obligations. Additionally, the company offers reinsurance on a property insurance contract; insurance agency services; brokerage services; and payment processing, merchant, wire transfer, private banking, and other related financial services. It operates through a network of 171 branches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia.

About Third Coast Bancshares

Third Coast Bancshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Third Coast Bank, SSB that provides various commercial banking solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, and professionals. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, individual retirement, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial and industrial loans, equipment loans, working capital lines of credit, guaranteed loans, auto finance, letters of credit, commercial and residential real estate, and construction, development, and other loans. In addition, the company provides retail and commercial online banking platforms, mobile banking apps, mortgage, treasury management solutions, merchant card services, and customer digital solutions, as well as debit and credit cards. Third Coast Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Humble, Texas.